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Although official app stores are the safest way to find and download new software to your smartphone, they are not without flaws. The Google Play Store has protections in place to remove malicious apps, but from time to time, some manage to sneak in undetected. Thirty-five such apps have just been discovered hidden in the Play Store – if you’ve downloaded any on your Android device, delete them now.
Cybersecurity technology company Bitdefender issued a report on Wednesday, August 17, identifying a new batch of 35 malicious apps in the Play Store. These apps are aggressive in their deception: they trick users into downloading them, each posing as an app that the average Android user might enjoy. However, once the user installs the app, it changes its name and app icon to remain hidden on the device.
Many change the icon to one associated with Settings and become an alias for the actual Settings app. When you open the fake app, it eventually opens the real settings, tricking you into thinking it’s a legitimate settings app. These apps will also be hidden from recent apps lists, making them even harder to spot in regular use.
The purpose of these apps is to serve you an obnoxious amount of ads: apart from annoying you, these ads generate revenue for the developers of the malware apps. Worse, developers run these ads from their own framework, which bypasses the protections Android normally implements. This allows developers to link to malware through these ads, increasing the danger.
Bitdefender discovers these types of apps using real-time behavioral technology that identifies apps using practices known to be associated with fake or malicious software.
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Below is the full list of apps discovered in the report, compiled by Tom’s Guide. If you have downloaded any of these apps to your device, please delete them immediately. Of course, apps may have changed their names and app icons, which means you’ll need to be diligent in your research – look for any apps, such as utility or settings apps, already you know you didn’t have it before. device
- Wall Light – Wallpaper Pack: 100K+
- Big Emoji – Keyboard: 100K+
- Grade Wallpaper – 3D Backgrounds: 100K+
- Engine Wallpapers – Live & 3D: 100K+
- Stock Wallpapers – 4K & HD: 100K+
- EffectMania – Photo Editor: 100K+
- Art Filter – Deep Photo Effect: 100K+
- Fast Emoji Keyboard: 100K+
- Create Sticker for Whatsapp – 100K+
- Math Solver – Camera Helper: 100K+
- Photopix Effects – Art Filter: 100K+
- LED Theme – Colorful Keyboard: 100K+
- Keyboard: Funny Emoji, Sticker: 50K+
- Smart Wifi: 10K+
- My GPS location: 10K+
- Image warping camera: 100K
- Art Girls Wallpaper HD: 100K+
- Cat Simulator: 50K+
- Smart QR Creator: 10K+
- Color old photo – 500+
- GPS Location Locator: 100K
- Art Wallpaper for Girls: 10K+
- Smart QR Scanner: 50K+
- GPS location maps: 100K
- Volume control: 50K+
- Secret Horoscope: 10K+
- Smart GPS Location: 10K+
- Animated Sticker Master: 100K
- Personality Load Show: 100K
- Sleep sounds: 100K
- QR Maker: 10K+
- Media Volume Slider: 10K+
- Secret Astrology: 10K+
- Colorize photos: 10K+
- Phi 4K Wallpaper – Anime HD: 50K+
How to avoid downloading apps infected with malware
Malware apps are deceptive and misleading, and certainly not advertised as malicious on the Play Store. However, they are often given away in different ways. By keeping an eye out for red flags, you can prevent it from downloading to your Android device.
If an app has a large number of installs but few or no reviews, avoid it. Bitdefender found that an app like GPS Location Maps, with over 100,000 downloads, had no reviews. On the other hand, if there are reviews, study them closely. If most of them look misspelled, fake, or even written about another app, that’s a bad sign.
Take note of the permissions an app asks for. It makes sense for a GPS app to ask for your location, but not your camera and microphone, for example. Be on the lookout for apps that also ask for special permissions. Most of the apps you download have no business asking for accessibility permissions, which indicates that the software wants to do some shady stuff in the background.
While the Play Store hosts the most hidden malware-infected apps, it’s not just Android that has to deal with this problem. Researchers recently discovered some malicious apps in both the iOS and macOS app stores, a reminder that Apple and Android fans need to be vigilant with every app download.